Abdicatin' Royalty

Familia

My decision from yesterday was to convince myself that if Christian didn't want this baby it was okay but he will not leave me to raise it alone. That's what ended my hurt and would potentially end our relationship. Still, I felt he had a responsibility to our child and he will not neglect those responsibilities because I can't reproduce asexually!

I turned to the watch around Marco's wrist which read 15:38 then I turned to my attention back out the passenger window. We were cruising down a desolated middle income neighborhood. All the houses here looked so tranquil and serene, even with the 'haunted autumn' look.

We pulled up to the white and blue house on Groom Avenue and when I opened the door the first thing I heard was Spanish cussing and pool splashes. I turned to Marco and he didn't look impressed. "Forget your board shorts, I see." He smirked and scoffed simultaneously then walked over to me as I headed for the door.

I didn't get the chance to knock before little Eduardo pulled it open and yelled "ella está aquí," which means 'she's here'.

With the sound of lil E's voice, all the women in the house went crazy. Mrs. de Sousa violently pulled me into a hug while aunt Pauline handed me a glass of her poisonous ginger ale. Then cousin Paula started shrieking in Spanish and it was so high pitched that I didn't understand anything other than 'wedding' but I'm sure she was referring to Christian and I which scared me.

Just as quickly as the hype started, it ended and everyone (except little Eduardo and Mrs. de Sousa) went back to what they were doing. Mrs. de Sousa laid an arm around my shoulders while little Eduardo was talking to Marco -who replied to very little.

"Happy Heroes' day, your grace," she began. "We're honored you've joined us." I smiled as I wished her a happy Heroes' day too. Then she wished Marco and I went around wishing everyone except Christian who was nowhere in the house.

Heroes' day is a public holiday where the entire country celebrates the fall of the innocent and good people who died in Opresión, the war against the oppression of the Chinese, Spanish and black communities. King Paul II (Eddy's great grandfather) made it a public holiday over eighty years ago.

The fear of not seeing Christian around made me anxious and worry if Vince said something to him. I sighed as I followed Alejandro into the kitchen and I was met with a dozen smiling faces. Swallowing my anxiety, I greeted the rest of the family and found myself genuinely happy to be there.

Grandma de Sousa whispered in my ear that she heard chef de Sousa tell uncle Pedro that Christian was going to propose to me. I felt my anxiety return and a bit of relief flood me for the same exact reason: our relationship. My philosophy was either Christian knew about the baby and he wanted to makes things right or he had no idea and he was rushing our relationship.

I looked outside the kitchen door and saw some of the younger de Sousa kids in the pool with chef de Sousa, cousin Tina and big Eduardo. Near the pool on a paved section of the yard, uncle Pedro and grandpa de Sousa were barbecuing ribs, steaks, chicken and fish. The smell of it made my stomach churn ruefully.

I turned my attention back into the kitchen and the women and Alejandro were busy cooking and baking. Alejandro handed me side plate with amazingly-scented sausages on it. "This smells amazing," I voiced as I took the little plate from him.

"This is tía Maria's homemade chorizo. Christian, big Eduardo and I used to steal them out of the freezer then eat them raw," he whispered and I groaned at the thought of raw meat. "But Christian was sneaky, he'd only tell us if there was chorizo if we caught him trying to smuggle it for himself."